The Register Lecture: What will drive our cars when the combustion engine dies

Whether you’ve always wondered whether hydrogen is the motor fuel of the future, or what happens to the inside of Lithium Ion battery when you drive a nail through, you’d have gotten your answers at our January Register Lecture.

The National Physical Laboratory’s Dr Gareth Hinds took attendees on a journey into an electrically powered future. He covered some extremely big picture issues: how we reconstruct the national grid and renewables; the role of nuclear; hydrogen versus hybrid versus.

And he took us right down to the nitty gritty, showing the NPL’s work on improving Lithium Ion battery safety, including video via a the European Synchrotron of exactly what happens when you drive a nail into a battery. Because that’s how science works.

It all prompted a flurry of questions, from just how big a sheet of flame an electric car crash will produce, and what happens when household appliances run on hydrogen, to the continuing role of nuclear and how do we make batteries more efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Oh, and for the record, we’re going to be needing jet fuel for some time to come.

You can watch the lecture in its entirety right here, though you will miss the Q/A. If you want to quiz our Register lecturers up close, just make sure you get a ticket for our upcoming events. ®